This week, I had a chance to go to Kitui County to continue my EOC investigations. This time, I went with Kevin Omondi, GIS Kenya Deputy Director, and Elly. The visit was my first time spending an extended amount of time in “small-town” Kenya (meaning a non-city municipality.)
In Kitui, the Public Health Emergency Operations Center was on the same campus as the county referral hospital and the county laboratory, as opposed to Nakuru, which was separate. This meant that I was able to share transport with the team, and spent much more time in the EOC.
One professional challenge this week was having the realization that the implementation of One Health in outbreak response at the county level in Kenya is still quite ad hoc. While there is a national level strategic guidance on One Health, counties are still struggling with factors key to complete implementation, including unpredictable funding and constantly changing development partners. After the first day, I realized that I couldn’t approach the response narrative in Kitui the same way I could in Nakuru; I couldn’t try and fit them into the holes cut out in the national guidance. Instead, I let them take the lead in constructing a narrative about rabies — I also discovered that RVF is not a major problem in Kitui, despite their livestock industry.
In many ways, Kitui was much more of a cultural challenge than Nakuru. One thing I realized in Kitui is that I have a strong “homebody” instinct, and that to actively keep on pushing my bounds and finding experiences that make me uncomfortable make. However, due to the smaller scale of the county government, I felt that I was able to make closer personal connections with the staff.
Me and Kitui County PHEOC Staff: Ms. Alice, Dr. Augusta, and Mr. Daniel.